His Dark Moon, Her Sacrifice

Chapter 4

Soft wisps of smoke curled upward from the scented candles on the casting table, while the holy figure standing before them remained silent and solemn.

Seeing Ismerie's deathly pale face, Leontis was seized by a sharp sense of unease.

"Ismerie... what does that fortune slip truly foretell?"

Ismerie knew all too well how desperately Leontis and his mother longed for this child. Every member of the Thornecroft household was waiting anxiously for its arrival.

Her eyes remained fixed on the ominous fortune slip lying on the floor.

Fated to die before birth.

Those words weighed on her like a mountain, crushing the breath from her lungs.

Leontis refused to let the silence linger. His voice turned low and demanding. "Tell me plainly."

A storm of emotions churned inside her. At last, she forced herself to speak the cruel truth.

"The stars leave no room for doubt. This child will never reach full term. It will never draw its first breath."

Leontis stared at her for a long moment. Then his expression darkened completely.

"That's impossible. It is only an unborn child. It has never threatened you. How could you curse it like this?"

His harsh words struck her like a knife.

In all the years they had known one another, he had always spoken to her with tenderness. Never once had she heard him speak so coldly. So mercilessly.

Ismerie swayed where she stood as memories rushed back without warning. In the early days of their marriage, high society had whispered behind her back.

"A fortune teller? Someone meant to remain detached from worldly desires... yet she covets wealth and status above all else."

The moment those rumors reached him, he had confronted every single person responsible.

Standing before them without hesitation, he had declared, "My wife is the purest soul I've ever known. Anyone who speaks ill of her again will answer to me."

They had never fought like this before. Even when they disagreed, stubborn as he was, he had always been the first to soften.

The first to apologize. The first to hold her close. Those bittersweet memories tore through her heart.

She pressed a trembling hand against her chest and whispered, "Do you truly believe I would wish harm upon an innocent child?"

Only then did Leontis realize how deeply he had hurt her.

His expression faltered. "Ismerie... that's not what I meant—"

Before he could finish, a knock sounded at the door.

His aide rushed inside, breathing hard.

"Colonel! Miss Briarholt has been struck by severe abdominal pain. The child is in danger."

The words echoed through the room like confirmation of everything the stars had foretold.

Leontis immediately turned to leave. At the doorway, he paused and looked back.

The warmth she had always known in his eyes was gone. Only cold distance remained.

"Stay here. Do not leave this courtyard. Kneel before the altar and pray that this child survives."

Ismerie felt every drop of blood in her body turn to ice. She stood frozen where she was, unable to move.

Time slipped away unnoticed. At last, she slowly raised her eyes toward the altar. They burned with unshed tears.

She remained kneeling there through what felt like endless days and nights.

Daylight faded into darkness.

Darkness yielded once more to dawn.

Outside the courtyard came the hushed voices of the household servants. Their whispers carried clearly through the silence.

"How much longer is she going to stay on her knees?"

"I don't know. The Colonel ordered that she wasn't to leave."

"Poor thing. They say the other woman's condition is very fragile. He's been beside himself. Doctors have barely left her side. I think Mrs. Thornecroft has fallen out of favor."

"Quiet. Don't say things like that. What if she turns the stars against us?"

Every whispered word became another blade. Each one carved deeper into her already shattered heart.

The torment lasted five long days.

Finally, the door opened. Leontis stepped inside.

Without a word, he pulled her tightly into his arms. So tightly that she could barely breathe.

His warmth seeped through her thin clothing. Her mind told her to pull away. Her heart betrayed her.

It still longed for the embrace she had missed so desperately. He lowered his head until his lips were near her ear.

His voice was gentle. "Ismerie... you can change this, can't you? You can rewrite the stars. You can save this child."

A chill swept through her entire body. To force the stars to bend against their ordained course was to defy the laws of fate itself.

Such an act invited terrible and irreversible consequences. Even the greatest master of astrology could never escape the price.

Her voice trembled. "I can't."

Leontis looked at her steadily. "Can't... or won't?"

All the color drained from Ismerie's face. Leontis slowly lifted his hand and gently brushed her cheek. The gesture looked tender. To her, it felt colder than ice.

"Ismerie... I saved your life when you were young. Perhaps this was always fated. One life repaid with another. You understand better than anyone that every action carries its consequences. Consider this the repayment... Save this child, for me."

He spoke so calmly. So naturally. Yet every word reminded her of the life he had once given back to her.

Now... the debt has finally come due. Her heart felt as though it had been pierced straight through.

She had been only a little girl then. Separated from her master in a crowded city, she had fallen into the hands of human traffickers and had nearly been sold away.

Leontis had been the one who found her. The one who stepped forward without hesitation to save her.

Once, she had believed their meeting, their marriage... had been a blessing written in the stars.

Now she finally understood. It had always been a chain forged by fate. One she could never escape.

Silence settled between them.

After a long while, Leontis let out a weary sigh. "My heart has always belonged to you... And it always will. But no one in this world can have everything. I carry the weight of the Thornecroft family on my shoulders. I can't put it down.

"Every mission I undertake carries the risk of death... If anything ever happens to me, this child will be all that's left to comfort you. And to fulfill my mother's lifelong wish."

Every word sounded reasonable. Every plea sounded sincere. His face was as handsome as ever. His voice was as gentle as it had always been.

Yet to Ismerie... the man standing before her was a complete stranger.

Once, he would have shielded her from even the slightest pain.

Now he stood before her, turning the kindness he had once shown her into a debt...

And asking her to wager her very life against the will of the stars.